ok i just went back and looked and her exact words were "it was fine that i can't produce milk anyway, he was tested and he was allergic" if you only try for 3 days, you don't know that you can produce breastmilk or not!!

There is a really rare metabolic disorder called galactosemia that is part of the newborn metabolic screen. It is an inability to digest galactose, so babies with it can't tolerate milk from any animal (mother's milk, cow, goat, etc.). They have to be fed soy or amino acid formulas. (Galactosemia is not the same as lactose intolerance.) So it's possible that her baby has galactosemia, in which case he truly is unable to tolerate her (or any other mammal) milk, and there is a test for it.

You can have allergy testing in babies and toddlers done, but is kind of controversial. Some will tell you it's completely unreliable, some have gotten good information from the testing--sometimes it reveals allergens that make their way from mother's diet to breastmilk and cause a reaction in the baby. Dairy is a really common allergen like that, but so are soy, wheat, and nuts. If you can identify the cause of the reaction, often the mother can eliminate it from her diet and baby tolerates her milk much better.

There is a really rare metabolic disorder called galactosemia that is part of the newborn metabolic screen. It is an inability to digest galactose, so babies with it can't tolerate milk from any animal (mother's milk, cow, goat, etc.). They have to be fed soy or amino acid formulas. (Galactosemia is not the same as lactose intolerance.) So it's possible that her baby has galactosemia, in which case he truly is unable to tolerate her (or any other mammal) milk, and there is a test for it.

You can have allergy testing in babies and toddlers done, but is kind of controversial. Some will tell you it's completely unreliable, some have gotten good information from the testing--sometimes it reveals allergens that make their way from mother's diet to breastmilk and cause a reaction in the baby. Dairy is a really common allergen like that, but so are soy, wheat, and nuts. If you can identify the cause of the reaction, often the mother can eliminate it from her diet and baby tolerates her milk much better.

now that is the kind of answer i'm looking for! i don't want to judge this girl based on her facebook comments, it just seemed a little fishy to only BF for 3 days, say you "can't produce milk" and then say he was "allergic anyway". i'm just going to believe he was one of those rare cases

she SAYS that he was later "tested" for that. i didn't know they did "testing" for a breastmilk allergy? is that even real?

My DS2 was diagnosed w/MSPI (milk, soy protein intolerance) and they diagnosed him w/it by testing his poop. They found microscopic blood in it, which the doc said meant that his insides were not able to properly digest something - 95% of the time it's the cow's milk proteins from what the mother ate, not the breastmilk itself (per my pediatrician). So, maybe that was the test they did w/her??

The test is not conclusive. It just shows whether or not there is blood present. Then, if there is blood, they say it's usually MSPI. And, technically, it's not an allergy b/c they outgrow it. Their bodies just can't breakdown the proteins quite yet, but usually they can by a year old.

We are still breastfeeding - I went on a crazy diet taking out a TON of stuff, and he still had nasty poo diapers, and screamed for hours. So, after 3 months of not eating dairy/soy, I went back to eating whatever (except I still can't drink milk), and now at 9 months old, he's mostly outgrown it. However, after going through that experience, I can TOTALLY understand any mother who doesn't do the diet and switches to formula. It was one of the most difficult times of my life.

Here is my even if they aren't allergic to your breastmilk per say, they can certainly be allergic to something you are eating and in my honest opinion that would then in a round about way make them allergic to the milk they are drinking (your breastmilk). Yes it may not be to you milk exactly but it is still going to cause all sorts of problems unless you eliminate the offending food.

I think some people may use the allergy excuse because they don't want to breastfeed and get sick and tired of people trying to put them down for it. Then there are some babies who have allergies to a lot of stuff (or intolerances) and maybe the mom can't easily eliminate all of the offenders and maintain a well balanced diet in which case breastfeeding may not be the most beneficial for either party.

FWIW I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding and have breastfed all 3 of my children HOWEVER, I have dealt with allergies and intolerances that have made breastfeeding mighty complicated. I never judge another mom for not breastfeeding unless I know the entire story (and not just the story from a third party).

Wasn't the last Duggar baby allergic to breastmilk? He was a major preeme so maybe that had something to do with it, I just remember on TV he was in and out of the hospital because they could not figure out what was wrong with him.

I wonder how you could know your baby was allergic on day 3... I didnt have any milk then and if I did I doubt the doctors would have figured that out so fast!

My DS2 was diagnosed w/MSPI (milk, soy protein intolerance) and they diagnosed him w/it by testing his poop. They found microscopic blood in it, which the doc said meant that his insides were not able to properly digest something - 95% of the time it's the cow's milk proteins from what the mother ate, not the breastmilk itself (per my pediatrician). So, maybe that was the test they did w/her??

The test is not conclusive. It just shows whether or not there is blood present. Then, if there is blood, they say it's usually MSPI. And, technically, it's not an allergy b/c they outgrow it. Their bodies just can't breakdown the proteins quite yet, but usually they can by a year old.

We are still breastfeeding - I went on a crazy diet taking out a TON of stuff, and he still had nasty poo diapers, and screamed for hours. So, after 3 months of not eating dairy/soy, I went back to eating whatever (except I still can't drink milk), and now at 9 months old, he's mostly outgrown it. However, after going through that experience, I can TOTALLY understand any mother who doesn't do the diet and switches to formula. It was one of the most difficult times of my life.

This is what my son has and it made our breastfeeding hell. He was labeled as failure to thrive and later found this to be the cause. He STILL has not outgrown it and he is 2 1/2. I nursed him until 11 months at which time he weaned himself because we had to supplement and the bottle was easier

Besides the metabolic disorder where a baby cannot drink breastmilk, there is also a disease called eosinophilic enteropathy. While we never got a definitive diagnosis for my ds1, we believe this is what he had from birth to about 2yo. It is a disease where the immune system reacts to some or all food proteins and causes the body to attack itself (for my ds, his body attacked his stomach and colon). He ONLY tolerated an amino-acid formula. He could not tolerate bm even when only about 7 foods were being eaten--all low allergen.

These babies can be bf if they don't react to many foods but in severe cases, they react to everything. I have even known moms who only drank amino acid-based formula in an effort to continue to bf and their babies still reacted to their milk but were able to drink the formula and not react which obviously makes you think the baby is reacting to the actual human milk protein.

Obviously, this is a pretty rare situation...my ds was an extreme case but it does happen.